


Another Turning

by FirstWriter



Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anyone who could show up, Divergence from Great Hunt, F/M, It's Wheel of Time There are Too Many Characters to List, just might
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23717284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FirstWriter/pseuds/FirstWriter
Summary: Some things are different.  Aviendha joins the story earlier. Author vents an annoyance he had with certain one-shot characters.
Relationships: references to Rand al'Thor/Aviendha
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. Stedding

Aviendha paused at the edge of the trees to veil herself. Her companions exchanged shocked looks, but they did not understand.

 _Danger_? Rhian signed to her as their companions glanced about. Aviendha signaled negation and stepped forward, feeling a slight change that she took to mean she was already in the _stedding_.

Hastily she pulled her veil down again. “I thought, for me… the Wise Ones say…if anything happened to me, I wanted to be veiled.”

Rhian rolled her eyes and pushed past Aviendha. She didn’t quite approve of Aviendha joining the spear-sisters on this hunt, as the Wise Ones had not, and no doubt thought her even more flighty and foolish. Bain and Chaid seemed to understand, though they did exchange looks, but at least they said nothing. Aviendha felt foolish herself, now that she was in the _stedding_. But the stories said the One Power could not enter one. What if that meant a channeler could not? The Wise Ones insisted she had the ability to channel the True Source, so perhaps there would be consequences to her own entry? What if Amys and Seanna had Dreamed of her death in a _stedding_ and so had wanted her to go to Rhuidean instead? She had no way to know until it was done, and she did not want to wake from the dream with her face bare to the world. But she followed Rhian further into the _stedding_ without an explanation. If Rhian knew she could channel, in theory, at least, she might just send her back to the Wise Ones. As it was, when Aviendha did return, no doubt she would have to meet _toh_ for slipping away for this one final run with her spear-sisters, before giving up everything she had ever dreamed to go to Rhuidean.

An hour later, Aviendha was starting to wonder if being sent home would not have been better anyway. They had come to the wetlands to find He Who Comes With the Dawn. The man who would be the _Car’a’carn_ and unite the Aiel and return them to glory. And Rhian was trading for a bowl from the Treebrothers! Such things were very valuable in the Three Fold Land, but they were not what the Maidens had crossed the Dragonwall to find. And while the stedding was very peaceful, there was something…wrong. The longer she waited here, the more Aviendha felt as if something was missing, like an itch she could not touch. Finally, Rhian finished her bargaining, and the six Maidens left the Treesinger’s roof, Aviendha all but trotting in the lead. Before they cleared the random scattering of Ogier roofs, she drew to a halt and reflexively gave the hand sign for enemies approaching. A group of wetlanders, the leader clad in metal garments, were leading large horses through the trees, following a youthful-looking female Ogier.

“Shienarans!” called out Caindre, behind her. Aviendha hesitated, as the others drew abreast of her, and gathered closer. Rhian, Caindre and Menara had veiled and Bain and Chiad followed their example, but this was a _stedding_. There was not supposed to be dancing here, and it was the Treebrothers’ decision to make, whether to dance or not. These wetlanders even had a pair of Treebrothers in their company, so Aviendha doubted they were here to attack, and even if they did not know the customs, their companions would have surely explained to them…

At the sight of the Aiel women veiling, the leader of the Shienarans began pulling a sword off his back, calling “Stand clear,” to his companions. The horror of the sight, as much as the act of enmity was enough to make Aviendha veil herself, though she noted not every wetlander was looking to dance. Two others had drawn blades of different sizes, another held an axe with a wicked spike behind its head but a fourth was shouting at the others, making no move to draw what looked like an immense bow stave from his back.

A small older woman was also demanding “Stop this immediately!” Aviendha hesitated, not merely because she had an air of authority that reminded her of a roofmistress or a Wise One, but the female Ogier was also protesting. They were guests in this hold! They should not be dancing the spears in a _stedding_ in any conditions! She stopped and seized Caindre’s sleeve as the girl passed her, but the other spear-sister shook her off. Bain, glancing back, noticed Aviendha unveiling and slowed herself, drawing Chiad to a halt, too, but Rhian and her lover and sister-daughter kept moving forward, crouched to take their enemies low.

“Remember the Pact,” bellowed the larger, male Ogier. Aviendha wanted to add her shout, but she could not shame her spear-sisters so in front of men with swords.

Suddenly another Ogier, older than the other two, appeared, striding around the curve of the giant flat piece of wood, which looked as if one of the Great Trees had suddenly stopped a relatively short way up from the ground. Even a Treebrother standing next to it would not be tall enough to see over the edge, but its immense girth, and the height of the trees nearby, made it seem low in comparison.

“What is the meaning of this? Put up your weapons!” the older Ogier commanded, aghast. He turned to the wetlanders. “For you, there is some excuse, but for you…” He turned to face the Maidens, and Aviendha felt shame as keen as a knife meeting his eyes. She tugged her _shoufa_ off her head along with her companions, and felt no respite for having already unveiled. Hers had been the face the Ogier would have seen first, after all. “Have you forgotten the Pact?”

“Forgive us, Treebrother,” Rhian stammered in reply. “We remember the Pact, and we would not have bared steel, but we are in the land of the Treekillers, where every hand is against us, and we saw armed men.” Aviendha cast her gaze to the grass beneath her feet, the shame burning her cheeks. Excuses! Rhian was making excuses! They veiled themselves and bared weapons, not only in the presence of Ogier, but in a _stedding_ , in violation of the Pact! In a hold where they were guests! They drew steel first, against a lesser number of men, not even on their horses, as wetlanders did when fighting! The Ogier had the right of it! There was no excuse, but Rhian babbled like a Shaido caught with a chicken in her hands.

Aviendha made up her mind then and there that she would hunt no further with Rhian and her companions. The Wise Ones might hold her to account for leaving in the first place, though they had never actually told her she could not join the search, but she did not see how she could avoid dishonor following Rhian any longer.

The Ogier, rather kindly, answered Rhian as if she were the child she was acting, and introduced himself to the wetlanders. To Aviendha’s shock, he addressed the woman with them as Aes Sedai. On top the Pact and the Ogier and a _stedding_ , they had shamed themselves in front of an Aes Sedai! Aviendha contemplated turning back to Jangai Pass, to return to the Three Fold Land and beg Amys’ forgiveness, perhaps even put on white. Surely that would relieve her mortification.

The Ogier, whose name was Juin, which he gave to the Aes Sedai and wetlanders, but _not_ the Aiel, led the Aes Sedai away and the wetlander men paused a moment to eye the Maidens. Rhian and the others returned the looks challengingly, which Aviendha thought unwise – if the wetlanders made trouble, no one would now believe they were at fault, and the Maidens would be further disgraced – but gave them a quick perusal herself. The man in … armor, she thought the metal garb was called…had his hair shaved, except for a narrow tail bound at the top of his head. The oldest of the men, who had carried a fighter’s knife, had long graying hair and wore the roughest clothes, while the other three young men, no more than a few years older than Aviendha herself, wore clothing that looked more finely made to Aviendha’s eye. One had a sword, another the axe and the last was the archer, though he had never drawn his bow, much less strung it or nocked an arrow.

“He has a sword,” said Caindre, in tones of revulsion.

Aviendha did not see the point, and for that matter, wondered which of the men carrying swords she meant, until she took in the younger one’s appearance for the first time. All the other wetlanders, even the Aes Sedai leaving with the Treebrother, had the dark hair so common on this side of the Dragonwall, and one was short, as wetlanders were all reputed to be, but the swordsman would be tall even in the Three Fold Land, and had reddish hair and blue gray eyes. But just because he looked Aiel did not mean anything, and someone who tried to dance the spears in a _stedding_ had no reason to single another out so. As Caindre fetched her sister-mother’s bowl from where she had placed it aside to fight, Rhian and Menara turned to lead the Maidens out of the _stedding_. Aviendha found herself at the rear of the group, so lost in her thoughts that she barely remembered the discomfort that had made her eager to leave in the first place.

Outside the _stedding_ , Rhian and Menara discussed which direction to move next, and how to avoid more groups of wetlanders.  
Aviendha spoke up when Rhian decided they would move west and south, to avoid the Treekillers from their city. “I think I will watch for the wetlanders to leave the _stedding_.”

Bain and Chiad looked at her with surprise and Rhian scoffed. “The girl thinks she is a Wise One herself, because they show an interest in her. What is to be gained from wetlanders?”

“One of them may not be,” said Aviendha.

“He bore a sword,” Rhian made a dismissive gesture.

“You are likely right,” Aviendha replied. “But I will watch for him nonetheless.”

“We will watch with you, spear-sister,” said Bain. Chiad nodded, rather unnecessarily, as Aviendha knew what one of them said, the other would do as well.

Rhian looked from one to the other of the younger Maidens, before shrugging. “Stay if you wish. We will continue the search. Caindre, will you come, or stay with the other girls?” Caindre followed as Rhian and Menara strode off without a backward glance. Chiad’s face flushed with the insult Rhian had tossed out, but said nothing until they were out of hearing.

“Do you truly want to wait on the wetlanders, Aviendha?” she asked. “I thought perhaps you just did not want to follow Rhian any longer.”

“I did not,” Aviendha admitted, “so I did not try to persuade her, but I think we should. If the one is of Aiel blood…”

“Then Caindre is right, for all she was deflecting her own shame,” observed Bain. “An Aiel bearing a sword…” She curled her lip in disgust.

“Perhaps Aviendha thought he was pretty,” Chiad speculated as she gazed up at the tops of the Great Trees. “Perhaps she wants to attract his interest.”

Aviendha gave her friend a level look. Chiad might be a friend as well as a spear-sister, but there were limits. “What if he is Shaiel’s babe?” Both sisters gave her a surprised look. The story of Shaiel was told to every Maiden when she wed the spear, as an example of the consequences of breaking custom, but Aviendha was Taardad, as Shaiel had been, as her lover, Janduin, Battle Leader of the Hunt for the Treekiller, had been. It had been the chieftainship of the Taardad Janduin had abandoned in his grief over Shaiel’s loss, and Aviendha, like many Taardad of her generation, had grown up hearing about the doomed couple.

“The chances seem very long,” said Bain, with considerable understatement.

“He seems to be near the right age,” Aviendha replied, though a bit weakly. Yet she had a stronger spear to her hand. “What is more, he looks Aiel. How many Aiel could be on this side of the Spine of the World? Have you ever heard of an Aiel leaving the Three Fold Land to dwell in the wetlands? Have you ever heard of an Aiel wedding a wetlander?” She did wait a reply. None had ever heard of such nonsense, and if any Aiel had done any of these things, word would have spread, no matter the discourtesy.

She went on with her argument. “But the prophecies say He Who Comes With The Dawn is to be born of an old blood mixed with ours. Who besides Janduin has conceived a child with one of any blood but Aiel? I have heard many tales of the Hunt for the Treekiller, but none mention wetlanders doing anything but fleeing or fighting the _algai d’siswai_. What other Aiel have ever been on this side of the Dragonwall?”

Her friends shared another glance. All of these questions had been pondered by those who set out to cross the mountains, and no doubt by many others since the Wise Ones first announced the search. However Aviendha had examined the notions, the only answer she could fit was Shaiel, who had been great with child as the hunters caught up to Laman the Oathbreaker. According to Kelinda, a gray-haired Chumai Maiden, who had been near-sister to Shaiel, there was no sign of her babe, though she had clearly given birth before dying. The ground had been so trampled, it was impossible to sort out one set of tracks that might have borne the child away. Kelinda claimed that while wetlander woman did not seem to dance the spears, many followed after wetlander armies and were often seen picking over the dead on the battlefields when the dance was done. Perhaps one had recognized a Maiden’s child for what it was, and sought to keep its luck for herself. The belief in the luck of a Maiden’s child had taken some blows since that day, but the Wise Ones were quick to point out that Shaiel had broken custom and even the rules of _Far Dareis Mai_ , by bearing spear and babe at the same time.

It mattered little in any case. Even if there were unions of Aiel and wetlanders that had escaped gossip, or Aiel who had left the Three Fold Land, in defiance of custom and tradition, or who had remained here, rather than return once the Oathbreaker was slain, the chances of finding the offspring of one were as slim as finding water in the Termool. If there was a man who might be of Aiel blood close at hand, care should be taken to ensure he was not what he appeared before being dismissed for his behavior that he likely had never been taught was wrong. Bain and Chiad knew that as well as Aviendha. Rhian and Menara should have known as much, but Aviendha suspected they were more concerned with putting their shame behind them and avoiding any further reminders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One question I have always had about Wheel of Time is "What if the Aiel were not absolute morons?" So I incorporated that issue into this AU, though the primary focus is going to be getting to a different situation with Rand's characterization down the road, not really Aiel-focused. Basically, I just wanted Aviendha to be at Falme with most of the other major characters. The actual focus for this AU is how things are different for Rand when his love-life is different, so it's not going to be an Aviendha-centric story.


	2. Flickers

The three Maidens searched about the stedding until they found a score or more of men in armor much like the leader of the wetlanders they had encountered, waiting with horses. They settled in to wait, concealing themselves from the wetlanders’ notice. Presently, while Aviendha was keeping the watch, the oldest of the wetlander men emerged from the trees to speak to the chief of the group, a hard-looking man with a patch over what Aviendha presumed was a missing eye. Wetlanders were odd, however. It could be he had a reason for concealing a perfectly good eye.

Soon the wetlanders were mounting their horses and riding into the trees. The Maidens followed at a close distance, unnoticed - the noise of the horses and the jingling of their metal armor all but deafened the wetlanders – until they came to a place with fewer trees than the rest of the forest. The three Aiel could not see what was going on, but there was some sort of commotion and outcry, and then the wetlanders were all riding away in a different direction. Aviendha could see, to her relief, that the possible Aielman was with them.

When the wetlanders stopped again, Aviendha, Bain and Chiad crept on their bellies through the smaller plants to see what they could. The soldiers on their horses had circled around something they could not see. The two Ogier, Juin, who had reprimanded the Aiel for breaking the peace, and an older woman, they could see leaving in another direction, and voices raised in argument came from within the circle of wetlanders. The voices faded to inaudibility before Aviendha could make out a word, and then the wetlanders began moving closer, tightening their circle.

Aviendha moved forward too. It was a risk, but the wetlanders were far more intent on what was within, than the threat of enemies approaching without, especially so close to a stedding. Though they had kept a much better watch when waiting for their leaders, so Aviendha did not think they were careless, for wetlanders. Whatever it was must be important or dire to hold all their interest.  
Then the world flickered.

Aviendha leaped back as the Trolloc she slew fell forward, avoiding being pinned under its corpse. This _was_ foolishness, as the Wise Ones and older Maidens had said! She had slain one of Leafblighter’s get, her honor was satisfied, and she would leave this nonsense for fools, henceforth. She looked about for her spear-sisters when a blur of motion to her side distracted her. Flinging up her shield, she felt an impact that nearly broke her arm from the force, and spun as she let the momentum swing her arm, rather than fight the blow and perhaps break a bone or strain a joint for real. She found herself face to face with a man-like figure, with a black cloak as wetlanders were said to wear, holding a black sword whose darkness was more unsettling than its abominable shape. The death-pale face had no eyes, and Aviendha felt her spine turning to sand as it seemed to gaze at her nonetheless.

A quick exchange of blows and parries made it clear that she was not going to defeat the Shadowman alone, but she could not spare a look around for aid. She had seen four Aiel die since the dance began, and they had only been eight to start with. Then the ground turned under her foot, whether she had stepped on a loose object or the evil of the Blighted ground was fighting her she could not have said, but she went down on one knee, and knew she was about to wake from the dream. But instead of striking her dead, the Myrddraal fell in front of her, thrashing wildly. A drop of its blood struck her weapon hand, and she hastily shook it off as it stung, then wiped the spot on her boot sole, with a look to make sure the blood was gone, as she stepped backward while coming to her feet.

The Shadowman’s hand had been severed at the wrist, and it seemed to have taken a wound to the back, and Aviendha saw right away who had saved her life. There was no one else standing. Even the last of the Trollocs was rolling on the ground thrashing in imitation of its vile battle-leader. Her savior was a wetlander, not an Aiel, though he was tall and light of hair, skin and eye. His clothes were tattered green and brown, the hood of his cloak was up to protect his head from the more insidious dangers of the Blight, and he held in his hands a long sword, with what seemed to be a stylized bird etched on the blade near where he held it.

“I see you, wetlander,” Aviendha spoke up when he raised his sword and pulled it back in what looked like a defensive posture. “You have saved my life and I ... acknowledge a debt." A wetlander might not understand _toh._ "I am Aviendha of the Nine Valleys Sept of the Taardad Aiel.” She did not add her society as a man would have, there was no need, of course.

“I am Rand al’Thor,” the man said. He was young, not much older than she. After a moment, he added, “Of Emond’s Field in the Two Rivers. There is no debt, really. It was a Myrddraal. I’d have killed it whether I saw you there or not. I might not have managed if you hadn’t been holding its attention. What are you doing in the Blight?” he asked, lowering his sword to one side, and taking one hand off. From the grip, Aviendha suspected he was ready to raise it again to fight, and he paid more attention to their surroundings than to Aviendha. Which showed remarkable good sense for a wetlander. She decided to answer.

“We were hunting Trollocs. We did not see the Shadowman among them, nor all the Trollocs.” She did not like admitting the mistake, but she also did not want this wetlander thinking Aiel were fools to take on a larger number of Shadowspawn than they could fight successfully.

“It killed five others,” Rand al’Thor said with a nod, still watching the sickly-looking trees around them.

“What of you, Rand al’Thor?” she asked. “How did you come to the Blight above the Three Fold Land?”

He grimaced. “I had dreams, and I left home because of them. When I came to Shienar, I met some fellows who said they were going to look for the Eye of the World. I heard of it in my dreams, so I went with them, and the others were all killed in the Mountains to the north. I’ve been wandering for two days since. I have no idea where I’m going, really.”

Suddenly noises became audible in the Blight to their west, and drew closer. Rapidly. “We had better run,” Aviendha said. Rand al’Thor nodded and followed her. The noises followed too, and the two humans increased their speed, to no avail.

“We cannot escape,” Aviendha panted. She turned. “I will face them, rather than die fleeing.”

The wetlander man turned and doubled over briefly, gasping for air, before heaving himself straight. His eyes stared off into the sky and he did not seem to be seeing anything. Suddenly flames appeared a ring of fire surrounding him and Aviendha, that spread outward searing the foliage so intensely that even the smoke was consumed before more than a foul trickle could rise to the sky. Lightning struck from the sky beyond the expanding ring of flames and the ground shook and erupted fountains of soil and rock that cast trees and plants and even twisted shapes of animals into the air.

Aviendha stared in horror. She had first thought the sight miraculous, but there was only one explanation. Rand al’Thor’s arms were spread and his gaze still fixed sightlessly into the distance. She half-raised a spear, but he had saved her life, and she could not dishonor herself, no matter what he was.

She turned and ran, as fast and as far as she could. The wetlander gave no sign he noticed. She had not gone a mile into the Blight beyond the edge of the land he had scoured when the Worm took her.  
 _Flicker_

"What?" the gasp from one of her companions seemed drawn out oddly to her ears. Time seemed to slow, as her head spun with the memory of something she could not explain, that could not have been. Had she seen the strange wetlander who looked like an Aiel, but carried a sword?  
 _Flicker_

Her skin still tingling with the pressure of the sun outside the cloud that surrounded Rhuidean, Aviendha spotted the rings she had come to find. Taking a deep breath and wishing for a veil, she stepped through the nearest one. She saw, just as the Wise Ones warned, an endless string of possibilities for her life, the results of her choices and the choices of others forming new strings, each one branching off into hundreds or thousands of choices. She saw horror, grief, disappointment, she saw too much. She never stepped out.  
 _Flicker_

Voices were shouting and the wetlanders’ horses were shifting and stamping.  
 _Flicker_

Aviendha’s work as the apprentice to a trader was not hard, certainly nothing like running with the Maidens, but she was finding it interesting. She traveled all over the Three Fold Land with Daigred, and several times even to the Cliffs of Dawn to trade with the Sharamen. When He Who Comes With the Dawn was proclaimed, and hailed as the _Car’a’carn_ , Daigred brought her goods and her apprentice to the gathering of all the clans at Red Spire Ridge and listened to the _Car’a’carn_ announce his plans to lead the spears of all the clans over the Dragonwall again, but this time not to hunt an Oathbreaker, but for his own reasons of prophecy. Daigred decided to follow the spears and see what trade was to be found in the wetlands, and Aviendha came with her. She wondered aloud why the _Car’a’carn_ had wetlander companions, but Daigred told her to mind her own affairs.

But a day before the army reached Jangai Pass, the _Car’a’carn_ and his companions and his guard of Black Eyes walked past the traders and their pack animals. Aviendha gave them no more than a passing glance, but she met the eyes of one of the wetlanders and he appeared to take note of her. As Aviendha unloaded the pack animals when making camp - rumor said the spears would attack the wetlander hold in the pass in the night – two Black Eyes came to demand she attended the _Car’a’carn_. Irritated at her departure, Daigred was already ordering the _gai’shain_ to take up her tasks as Aviendha followed, or more precisely, walked between, the _Seia Zoon_ , asking them what the _Car’a’carn_ wanted of her. The men did not answer, though one muttered that it was the Wise Man who called for her. Aviendha protested that she was not at the call of a wetlander, but they each seized one of her arms and forced her to keep going.

Her heart started pounding as they shoved her into a large tent, with _gai’shain_ , all female, crouched outside as the only guards. The wetlander was wearing his odd garb, including a leather mask that covered his entire head. His voice rasped as he ordered her to undress and when she refused and turned to leave, she found the air itself holding her immobile and turning her back to face him. Her clothing tore off her body as she floated helplessly into his reach. When he undressed, she stared in horror at the ruin of his skin, shriveled and browned as if with age beyond imagination, though he stood straight and moved as if with strength. The mask he took off last, and Aviendha began screaming.

Her nightmare subsided when Couladin and his roofmistress, Sevanna, entered the tent. Couladin, his forearms marking him as the _Car’a’carn_ of all twelve clans, prophesied as He Who Comes With the Dawn, knelt and spoke humbly, however his face twisted with resentment, to the man who named himself after one of the Shadowsouled, and swore to do as the monster told him. He left the tent, glaring at his wife, who stayed behind, though she didn’t quite conceal the terror and revulsion from her face. Aviendha was ignored while the wetlander whose name she did not dare think on amused himself with Sevanna, who half groveled as if she were _gai’shain_ proving her humility before her mistress, and half seemed to be trying to persuade the wetlander to keep her as a lover or wife. Her eyes met Aviendha’s at one point and Aviendha could not make herself care at the fury in them over another witnessing her shame. A whisper in the wetlander’s ear, a shrug of his shoulders, and Aviendha felt her head turning, turning farther than it was meant, then a pain, then no pain then darkness and she felt relieved.  
 _Flicker_

Aviendha was relieved when Red Cave Hold needed a Wise One, and she was sent to Rhuidean. Though the Wise Ones had acknowledged her demand to be recognized as one of them, they said nothing until there was a place for a new Taardad Wise One, then told her she had been right to make the demand. Rhuidean had been a shock, but she understood why it was kept a secret and endured. As the new Wise One of Red Cave, she was nervous at first, but she soon settled into the rhythms of its life and bit by bit, gained confidence. She was often drawn into conferences with other Wise Ones, however, as the times were changing, and she was one of the strongest and most talented channelers among their number. Not as skilled in weaving the flows as more experienced women, her natural gifts surpassed many of theirs, and she was among the dozen or so strongest in the Power. And that was becoming more important to the Wise Ones. More young men than any time in memory or records were called to slay Sightblinder, and word from peddlers and gleemen said the wetlands were rife with men claiming to be the Dragon Reborn. It mattered little to the Aiel, of course, but there was concern that these troubles might cross the Spine of the World. Rumors of unrest in Shara came from the traders, and there were even reports of Trollocs moving out of the Blight.

When a group of Aes Sedai, nobles, and a king and a queen among the wetlanders passed through what they called the Niamh Pass, to ask Aiel assistance fighting an army of invaders who claimed to be the descendants of Artur Hawkwing’s armies, and whom no wetlander army could stop, Aviendha was one of the Wise Ones sent to advise the battle leaders. They might not have come at all, but most feared to fail the Aes Sedai.

The Aes Sedai glared at the Wise Ones who could channel, but the wetlander leaders argued with them and nothing was said. Then the Aiel joined the wetlander armies to dance with the Seanchan, and Aviendha understood. These Seanchan used the One Power in battle, as Aes Sedai could not, and the battle leaders of the wetlands did not want the Wise Ones constrained as the Aes Sedai were. But Wise Ones did not dance the spears, and by the time Aviendha and her sisters stepped up and defended against the lightnings and fire of the Seanchan, the tide of the battle was turned. Aviendha was shielded with two other Wise Ones, and had a collar placed on her neck. She cast lightning against the walls of a great hold in the center of a gleaming white city from the back of a _to’raken_ , until a wind, driven by weaves of Air from a golden-haired woman standing atop one of the highest towers, broke the beast’s wing. As they plunged toward the earth, the _der’sul’dam_ tried to force Aviendha to avenge their fall by channeling at the woman. She resisted all the way to the ground, but there were other _damane_ and _sul’dam_ , and before she hit, she saw the tower crumble in flames  
 _Flicker_

When the Trollocs came, the Aiel laughed. They had come before, and though they had devastated the wetlands and Co’dansin, they had learned to fear the Three-Fold Land, and called it “the Dying Ground.” As before, Trollocs died in their thousands, but Aiel died, too. Hundreds of Trollocs fell for every _al’gai d’siswai_ , but there were always more Trollcs. They came through Co’dansin again, and scaled down the Cliffs of the Dawn, they emerged from the Spine of the World, and raided the Three-Fold Land in the west and the east. These died soon, but they pressed on to kill, rather than run, for they could not reach the Blight from so far south, and did more damage than they otherwise might have. And spears were needed to watch every place the Trollocs could reach the Three-Fold land, so even when they did not come, there were fewer spears in the north. Soon every hold within two weeks’ running from the edge of the Blight was surrounded and besieged by Trollocs.

Large gatherings of spears broke through to Old Sand Hold and brought out the sept, but at the cost of every Stone Dog in the rear guard and every Knife Hand, who fell holding the walls beside the chief. A similar attempt at Magai Hold broke through Sightblinder’s get and reached the hold, but their lines were shattered guarding the way out, and only a double handful of women and crafters who could keep up with the spears managed to reach safety. Any who burdened themselves with a child, fell to the pursuing beast men. All the spears of the Nakai gathered for the next relief attempt at Tollin’s Hold, and were not enough. Not long after Bruan called off the attack and fell back with a third of his warriors having woken from the dream, the Wise Ones began letting the news spread that none remained to be rescued in the surrounding holds.

Now Trollocs were coming through the passes, from the Borderlands, from the Treekillers’ lands, and even from the lands of the Tairens to the far south. Trickles, and then greater numbers came from the east. The Wise Ones and Clan Chiefs ordered the people to fall back to Rhuidean as more holds were overrun in every direction. Aviendha had lost her hand and eye when the Nine Valleys sept had to flee to Cold Rocks hold, but a one-handed Maiden could still hold a spear. She gave her bow to Niella, whose husband had died, and the weaver stood with the Maidens, though she was not one herself and there was no time for her to prove herself worthy to wed the spear or be properly trained. She died before the Taardad gathered on the slopes of Chaendar. Some hoped the children and old women in Rhuidean could be protected from the Shadowspawn by whatever killed aspiring chiefs and Wise Ones, but Aviendha never learned their fate. An arrow clipped her temple, and she came to her senses only in time for a Trolloc to lift her head from where she lay face down on the hard soil. A large pot sitting on a fire was the last thing she saw as steel kissed her throat.  
 _Flicker_

Men were shouting and screaming now. Aviendha caught a glimpse of Bain’s eyes, staring wide at nothing.  
 _Flicker_

“No, girl! Come back here!” her mother’s voice came far away and high up, but Aviendha ignored her, darting off the trail to pick up an arrowhead, only slightly pitted from exposure. It must have been left from the Miagoma raid the winter before. She pushed aside a rock with the broke-off shaft protruding out from beneath, and felt a sting on her bare leg. She cried out and stumbled back, dropping the arrow parts as a dull-colored snake slithered away.

She heard her mother scream, “A bloodsnake!” She felt pain for what seemed like forever, but was only minutes.  
 _Flicker_

She was a Maiden of the Spear who died young in battle, and who lived to an old age. She gave up the spear for a husband, for a child, to be a Wise One. She never wedded the spear, and became a weaver, a silversmith, the mistress of a roof, a Wise One. She married, sometimes to a common warrior or craftsman, sometimes to a chief, who died in battle, died of old age, died in Rhuidean, became chief of the Taardad. She had no children, she had a large family, by one man or many. One life, she gave birth to four babes at once. The Aiel fell to the Shadow, to the Seanchan, to wetlander armies, destroyed themselves with bloody rivalries, perished when the sea washed over the Three-Fold land, or crossed the Dragonwall as in her parents’ day and conquered the wetlands. She married, loved and bedded Aielmen and men from the wetlands and dark men who sailed ships and men from Shara. She died of illness, in battle, of thirst, in Rhuidean, in the Blight, on the slopes of a mountain beneath a nightmare sky, on the slopes of another mountain, her last sight a gleaming tower in the distance. She died in _cadin sor_ , in a blouse and skirt, in white robes or black, and in long dresses of silk or wool. And always it felt wrong, it felt as if she failed to meet a _toh_ or abandoned her place of battle.

And the last flicker came and it all stopped, and she was again eighteen years, wedded for three of them to the spear, searching for He Whom Comes With the Dawn beyond the Spine of the World, with her friends, Bain and Chiad. All three lying on the ground. Bain was moaning softly, her eyes clenched shut, while Chiad had not only veiled herself, but pulled her _shoufa_ over her eyes. When it became clear that the flickering lives had stopped, they began gathering their composure.

As they climbed to their feet, Aviendha noticed with alarm that they were no longer hidden in trees. The wetlanders spotted them shortly after.


End file.
